In You I Trust
by Csyren
Summary: Danny is plunged into the world of fantasies, where upon he meets Louise, his master from that day onward. A war brewing on the horizon. Conspiracies laced through the noble brass. Mysterious cultists sought after Danny with an unnatural zeal. Something along the lines of a god waking from his slumber. And yet, Danny's more afraid of Louise than anything else.
1. The Hedgehog's Dilemma

**Summary: Danny is plunged into the world of fantasies, where upon he meets Louise, his master from that day onwards. A war brewing on the horizon. Conspiracies laced through the noble brass. Mysterious cultists sought after Danny with an unnatural zeal. Something along the lines of a god waking from his slumber. And yet, Danny's more afraid of Louise than anything else.**

 **See the end of the chapter for Author's Note for information on this chapter and all future chapters.**

* * *

 **The Hedgehog's Dilemma**

 **I**

Danny fell from the sky. Plummeting through the air, the world a blur of blue and green. Wind lashed through his clothes pulling it tight against his body. He flailed his arms out in a desperate attempt to right himself. Even with all his years dealing with the sky he never quite got the hang of the principles of falling to his death.

The ground crashed into Danny like the ocean waves, knocking the air from his lungs. The grass sprung out, a cloud of dirt bloomed around his impact shielding him briefly in the cloud of soil and grass. It was only when the cloud settled did Danny realize he was still alive.

Danny pried open his eyes, his vision swimming with white dots. The sky was a mesh of swirling wisps. He blinked more, his vision slowly refining with every attempt. Then finally—the sky. It was daytime? Danny could've sworn it was night just a moment ago.

Danny pushed himself off the ground and leveled himself on one elbow. He rubbed the back of his head where a throbbing lump was beginning to form.

There was grass beneath him. Stone walls stretched around him in the distance like some kind of a medieval compound. The buildings loomed overhead, bright and ancient in their masonry. Strange. Amity Park definitely didn't have any kind of castles. Maybe Vlad had dragged Danny back to his mansion? He wouldn't put it over the Fruitloop to commission a medieval castle to complete the aesthetic of his lair.

Voices drew Danny's eyes lower. His body seized up. There were two dozen kids surrounding him staring at him with baffled eyes across a generous berth. Danny glanced down and let out a breath of relief he didn't remember taking. He was still in his human form.

The crowd of people murmured to themselves. No doubt speaking of Danny's strange predicament. They were all dressed in uniform; white dress shirts and a thick black robe that hung open. Did he land in some kinda private school?

The girl standing closest to Danny was staring straight at him, a critical gleam in her uniquely pink eyes. Her hair was a blossom of pink that rolled down to her lower back. She was short, a head shorter than Danny—who wasn't even all that tall himself. The girl frowned, clearly dissatisfied.

Danny rolled over to his stomach and pushed himself off the grass. His arms were wobbly. His back screamed with a burning ache. His legs felt like lead, refusing to move beneath him.

Through the power of will, Danny pushed himself upright until he was kneeling. He looked up to the strange pink girl. Her frown deepened as she got a better look at Danny's face. A man was standing behind the girl. He was the only adult in the group. The teacher?

The pink haired girl turned and shared a glance with the older man. The man's face twisted into a wince as his eyes fell back on Danny. What's with the stares? It's like they saw something gross, just like the face Sam made when they ate at Nasty Burger.

"Um," Danny craned his neck, trying to remember where the hell he should even begin, "where am I?"

The pink girl turned again to the older man. The two spoke again. The language was… strange. It didn't sound like anything Danny had heard in Amity Park, then again he didn't have a wealthy frame of reference. The tone sounded sinisterly like German, but… not.

The argument between the two was short. The pink girl turned back to Danny, her previous apprehension sealed behind fierce determination. She crossed the distance between herself and Danny.

Danny attempted to stand up to meet the girl, but a sudden lance of fire shot through his knees up into his hip.

"Guhn-!"

The pain was like magma flowing down his leg, and lightning up his sides. Danny's vision was speckled with white light. His body suddenly tensed.

Danny remembered seeing something…

A mountainous man—no it was a beast—rose over Danny. The shadow blotted the hanging crescent moon. One massive hand reached out and slammed into Danny's body, covering him from neck to waist in its massive palm. Danny's right heel had hooked onto the concrete ledge and broke through the building, not without twisting his knee painfully forward.

Danny's vision returned to him just as his legs buckled and gave out beneath him. He fell for the second time that day, landing in the small arms of the girl before him. She held onto him gingerly, unsure whether to push him off or hold tighter.

"W—Wait…" Danny gasped into the girl's shoulder. He raised his hand and gripped onto the girl's shoulder, his fingers were trembling from the effort. His vision blurred and mixed together.

Danny raised his hand and touched his pulsating head, trying to alleviate the pain. His fingers brushed something wet. When he pulled his hand over his face he saw scarlet where his fingers had touched his forehead. Then almost as if to taunt Danny, blood oozed down his brow and brushed against one of his eyes, shading the corners of his vision red.

The teacher pulled out a stick from under his robe. With whispered words, he pointed the stick towards Danny.

The girl pulled Danny away. She glared at his face. Danny tried desperately to return her gaze, but his eyes became unfocused. The girl's eyes softened. She touched his face, her fingers were warm against his cheeks. Her hand slid lower onto his jaw and lifted his head upwards to face her.

The girl took a deep breath and rose onto her tip-toes. And—

—And She kissed him…

Danny's eyes widened. All of the pain his body hosted seem to vanish for those agonizingly slow three heartbeats. All at once, Danny could feel the girl's arm around his body, the scent of her hair crowned around them, and, of course, the soft lips that pressed tightly against his.

Some remote part of his brain kicked him for losing his first kiss to a stranger.

The girl pulled away. Her cheeks were red, probably a reflection of Danny's own face.

"It's done." The girl broke their silence, most likely from the embarrassment more than anything else. Her voice was the same, but her words were remarkably understandable. It wasn't English, not by a long shot. But, if Danny didn't pay attention he wouldn't have even notice the completely different dialect.

"Uh," Danny swallowed hard, and nodded. He didn't trust his voice to hold firm at that moment. The girl was far more collected.

"Good, you will be my familiar from this day forward." The girl declared with the finality that frightened Danny.

"W—W—What? W—Wait a minute!" Danny began to protest, his hand balled into fist. Danny had experience in unwilling servitude and that is not something he's going to sit still for. "If you think you can—!"

Danny's words died in his mouth as a crushing fire consumed him. His body began to burn and sizzle. His skin felt like it was drying into crisps, a thousand razors scrapping along every surface of his skin. His bones were bending and his muscles were tearing apart. Danny was saved from the pain as exhaustion stole away his consciousness.

 **II**

Danny came to lying on just about the second worst bed he's rested on, and the number one worst headache. The room came into view and immediately he realized he wasn't dreaming. The walls were cream colored, striped by wooden supports. There was a bed—funny, he thought he was the one sleeping.

Danny pushed himself into a sitting position and groaned. What the—? Was he sleeping on the floor? His body was aching like crazy. If he didn't know any better, he thought he had just fought a horde of ghosts.

"You're awake." The voice was familiar. Danny found the pink haired girl sitting on a nearby table, her legs crossed. She set down her book and rose. Her glare firmly in place as she gazed down onto Danny. "About time. I was about to go to sleep."

"Where the hell are we?" Danny glanced around the room. It was definitely a bedroom of some sorts, or rather a dormitory. But, Danny would be damned if any schools in America had this kind of fancy accommodations. "Who are you?"

The girl puffed her chest out—her very modest chest—and placed her hands on her hips. The pose was very… arrogant, if she were a little taller…

"My name is Louise Françoise de la Baume—"

"Ni—"

"—le Blanc de la Vallière." The girl, Louise, finished with an upwards tilt of her chin as if expecting "ooh's" and "aah's". Danny decided this was as best a time to sneak in his own introduction.

"My name's Danny Fenton." Danny reached his hand out from where he was still sitting cross-legged. "Nice to—uh, meet you."

Louise ignored his offering hand and turned around. Danny felt his eyes twitch. This girl—who the hell does she think she is?!

It was in Danny's grumbling that he missed the article of clothing landing over his head, draping his head in a creamy white shirt. He pulled the shirt off, expecting it to be some kind of offering, but realized—dreadfully—that the shirt was for a female, a small female.

Danny looked up just in time to catch Louise bending over the waist. Her shirt and bra already thrown off so Danny could see her perfectly toned back, clean and unblemished. He unwillingly traced the valley of her spine from her sharp shoulder blades, pass the tout curve of her waist, and down to her round, firm—

Danny's bulging eyes darted to the floor.

Louise was pulling her underwear just pass her knees—her legs reached on for miles, smooth down the subtle curves of her thighs and calves—before she lifted one leg and then the other to free her small clothes. She rose to her full (short) height and toss the underwear behind her. It landed on Danny's face…

Danny squeaked, his face flushed a deep crimson. He flailed his arms until he managed to knock the underwear off of his face. He pushed the clothes away, kicking them as far away from him as possible. His heart was hammering against his chest. He found it hard to breath. His head began to swirl.

"W—W—W—What are y—you doing?!" Danny almost cried out. He was furiously covering his eyes with one arm and waving Louise to stop with his other.

Louise slipped on her night gown and threw a glare at Danny, who slowly peeked in between his fingers, before lowering his arms. His eyes were adamantly avoiding Louise.

"What do you think? Wash my clothes. Buy my errands. Clean my room. That's your job as my familiar." Louise listed off the tasks with a flick of her fingers.

"What? Since when did I agree to be your slave?" Danny exclaimed, his embarrassment forgotten. Louise raised an eyebrow.

"Agreement? Agreement is between two people. You are a familiar. We don't need to come to an agreement." Louise folded her arms. Danny felt like gagging. The finality in her tone was almost as if he wasn't even a person. Well, Louise didn't consider him human—but that thought in itself was baffling.

"Are you saying I'm not a person?" Danny bit back. His anger flaring. After years of being called 'welp' and 'halfa' the idea of someone dehumanizing him wasn't anything new, but those words were usually geared towards Phantom, not Fenton. For all Danny knew, Louise had no idea he was a halfa. So then where did she come to the conclusion that he was anything less?

"Of course not. I summoned you as my familiar, therefore you are my familiar." Louise snapped. Her patience was running short. She never imagined she would have to clarify the parameters of their contract to her own familiar. It simply didn't happen.

"That's stupid-!"

Louise turned away, dismissing Danny's outburst. She crawled into her bed and kicked the cover over her.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Danny made to get stand. A string of electricity ran through his body. He fell back onto the heap of hay. Danny pulled the sleeve of his red hoodie back and found bandage wrapped along his forearm and up his shoulder. He lifted the hem of his hoodie and found his stomach in a similar state. "Man, what's the medical bill for this?"

"Just clean my laundry and that'll be your payment for now." Louise said from her bed, her back was turned to him.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "You're the one that applied these?"

Louise didn't answer. In the dim light of the moon through the cracks of the curtain, Danny thought Louise already fallen asleep. He sighed and sank lower into the makeshift bed and pulled his right arm—his good arm—under his head and decided to sort everything out tomorrow.

"Just go to sleep." Louise finally commanded. There was the thickness of sleep in her voice.

Danny bit his bottom lip. Of course he'd end up in such a cruddy situation. Fate wouldn't have it any other way. But, Danny was used to taking things in strides. He felt a little uncomfortable at the thought that he was almost unfazed by this strange string of events. It certainly wasn't the _weirdest_ thing that's happened to him.

"G'night."

 **III**

Danny woke up to the most annoying alarm in his entire life.

"Get up! You—You dog!" Louise yelled from over Danny's prone form. Her arms were crossed and one feet tapping impatiently on the floor.

Danny groaned. He rolled over on to his back and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. He looked up and found an unfamiliar ceiling. Danny's eyes unfocused as he tried to remember how he got himself in this mess.

"Get up, dog!" Louise yelled, again. She stomped her foot and jolted Danny into a sitting position. He glared back at Louise.

"Morning to you, too." Danny grumbled. Louise huffed and walked to her dresser. Danny stretched his right arm over his head and yawned. Louise's white gown fell over Danny's face. He froze up, remembering the events of last night and began to dread what was to come. Danny pulled the gown off and bore his gaze on the wooden floor, reluctant to confirm his fear.

"Well?" Louise snapped. Danny's shoulder slumped.

"What?" Danny bit back. His eyes were still trained on the floor.

"Stop sitting there like a useless dog and help me change, dog!" Louise barked. Danny growled under his breath.

"You can change your own clothes!" Danny snarled. He inadvertently glared up at Louise. He froze, again.

Louise was naked. Completely naked. She stood just a meter away from him, her hands on her round hips. Her small perky breasts just barely covered by the pink of her hair, leaving very little to imagination. Danny's eyes followed the curve of the underside of her breast down to her flat, lightly toned abdomen. Her waist dipped beautifully inwards before belling out into a wider hip. Her thighs were firm and pale. Her body was blushed with pink that almost matched her hair.

Danny's face flushed a deeper red than Louise's hair. He gulped to alleviate his dry throat. His chest was hammering so loudly he was sure Louise heard him. He couldn't breathe.

"Eeep." Danny eyes fell to the ground again still wide with disbelief. He gripped tightly onto her gown, raising it over his chest, trying to muffle the drums of his heart.

"What're you waiting for." Louise was far more level headed for some strange paradox. Danny knew deep down that it was because she didn't see him as human.

"I'm not going doing any of that!" Danny shouted, but his tomato face hindered the impact of his words.

"That's your job, dog!" Louise yelled back. "If you won't do your job you won't be getting a meal today!"

"Like hell! Go change yourself!" Danny cupped his eyes with both hands to avoid any more slip-ups. "Aren't you embarrassed at all that a boy's seeing you—you n—n—naked?"

Louise trained her glare with practiced ease. Her arms crossed over her chest and leaned on one feet swaying her hips to the side. "I thought we've already been over this. You're my familiar, not a boy."

"It's the other way around!" Danny growled. "I'm not your familiar!"

Louise's eyes widened only by a fraction of a millimeter. Her face softened, turning from a sneer into a genuine frown. A thousand thoughts raced through Louise's mind, but nothing formed into coherent words. Her shoulders sagged a little. She turned around without another word and retrieved her uniform from the dresser. She began to dress herself with unnecessary force. She kicked her feet into her skirt and slammed the table by accident, spilling her tea on the hardwood.

Danny's hands eased off his eyes and glanced tentatively up at Louise. The sight of her mostly clothed unshackled a vice around his chest and allowed him to sigh in relief.

Louise finished fastening her cloak before leaving the room. She stood at the threshold of the door for a moment, before turning her head to the side, showing Danny her profile.

"Don't expect to eat today." Louise slammed the door close. There was the sound of keys rotating in a lock.

Danny groaned, sliding down further on the floor.

"Great." Danny exhaled the word.

Time passed slowly in the room. Danny stayed lying on the floor for what felt like hours staring out the window. He gauged the time by the color of the sky, but in the end he gave up on counting time. After the first hour Danny gathered enough strength to sit back up. He crossed his legs and lifted his left hand up.

Danny clumsily tugged the bandage off his arm, pulling it tighter more often to actually loosening it. His arm underneath the bandage was wrinkled with the bandage's markings. A pale crack webbed from his elbow to the base of his palm. It was shallow and thin. Danny remember feeling fresh blood gushing out of his arm before he had passed out. No doubt the wound was much, much worse yesterday. The best thing about being a halfa's gotta be the accelerated healing.

Danny flexed his hand, squeezing them into fists. It was a bit stiff, but otherwise normal. Danny removed the remainder of his bandages and tossed them on the floor next to Louise's dirty laundry.

Danny hopped on his feet and stretched for the first time in almost 24 hours. He moved across the room and looked through the shelves. He spotted several books in weird Sumerian characters. He wracked his mind flipping through the pages. He shrugged and replaced the book. It seemed researching his situation was a no-go, which was a relief because the last thing Danny wanted to do was sit in the room all day reading geography.

After exhausting all other option, Danny found himself standing in the front of the door. He tried the knob in anticipated futility. He sighed before squaring his shoulder. He pressed his right hand flat against the door and breathed deeply. Then _pushed_ his hand into the door. His palm slid pass the wood and sunk deeper into the door. Danny pinched his brows in concentration. He carefully phased his hand, then his wrist when his hand had passed the door. Then his arm. Then his elbow.

The process was slow. It took him a handful of bated breaths to pass fully through the door. Carefully, he phased separate parts of his body until he was completely on the other side. His ghost powers were always very limited in his human form, but he didn't want to risk going ghost. Who knows what kind of strange magic barrier or what-not they had at this school.

The hallway was exactly what Danny had expected to see from a medieval school of magic. A lot of crude stone bricks and wooden supports. Danny made his way through the hall and down a spiral staircase. It appears he was in the residential building as no one was present.

Danny whistled when he made it to the lobby. They had all kinds of decorations; statues, paintings, a goddamn indoor fountain; all kinds of crazy high collar designs. Danny felt like he was walking through a museum.

The morning sun shone over a clear blue sky. The grass was lush under Danny's feet. The air smelled of nectar and fresh soil. There were several large buildings clustered at the center of the compound, rising larger than the residential building. Many of the buildings were lined with strange, domed towers. A mountain range rose over the tops of the wall that surrounded the compound.

What caught Danny's attention was the pale red disk that hung in the sky. It was a moon, not the familiar moon Danny remembered gazing at for the last sixteen years of his life, it was huge. A clump formed in the pit of Danny's stomach as he realized he was indeed very far from home.

Danny made his way into one of the larger buildings. His nose caught the scent of a sweet aroma and began to follow it. He moved through the larger hallway passing several students chatting to themselves. A few tossed glances at him, but kept to themselves. With his red hoodie, Danny stood out like a sore thumb.

Danny turned a corner and paused. He heard raised voices, one of which was very familiar. He poked his head out of the corner and spotted Louise facing three other students, all taller than herself. Her back was turned towards Danny. One look at the leader of the trio told Danny they weren't friends of Louise. He's seen this a hundred thousand times before at his own school.

The redhead that stood in front of the other two girls had one of the smuggest grin Danny had ever seen. She was twirling her hair around her finger as she spoke to Louise, not even looking Louise in the eye.

"So where's your familiar?" The redhead asked with a sinister smoothness to her voice. "Don't tell me he ran away? Not surprising. If I were your familiar I'd run, too."

Louise bristled at the comment.

"It's none of your business." Louise growled. She was already in defense mode. Danny realized this was a routine to the four of them.

"Oh, so he did run away." The redhead laughed. The blond beside her joined in with a whining giggle. "As expected from Louise the Zero. It must be embarrassing being the only second year without a familiar. Don't worry, I'm sure the Headmaster can loan you a pig or something from the stables."

"My familiar is in my room!" Louise snapped. Her hands turned to fists.

"Mhmm." The redhead nodded. She examined her nails as she spoke. "Honestly, you surpassed expectations by summoning a commoner. I mean, I knew you were zero, but I never expected you to be this much of a failure."

The redhead and blond broke into another fit of laughter.

"Shut up, Kirche!" Louise growled. She was shaking now.

Danny's hands balled into fists. He made to walk out, but stopped when Louise continued to speak.

"My familiar is amazing and majestic! He's the best familiar that's ever been summoned! We're just working out some issues." Louise exclaimed furiously. To anyone it sounded like simple denial or maybe just a blatant lie, but Danny felt his cheeks flush nonetheless. He knew she didn't mean it, but it still brought him guilt thinking she would defend him, even if she was just trying to save face. "You wait and see. I'll show you how amazing my familiar is."

Louise pushed pass the three girls and marched down the hall.

"I'll be waiting for your next failure, zero!" Kirche called after Louise. The two laughed again as they watched Louise disappear behind a corner.

Danny turned back the way he came and made his way back to the residential building.

 **IV**

Louise had returned to her room later that night. The sun had well pass the horizon when the door rattled and open to a haggard Louise. She walked into the room, dropping her cloak messily on the ground and moved to her bed where she fell flat on the puffy cushion.

Louise rolled over and glanced at the folded clothes that sat beside her. She raised an eyebrow. She turned and searched the room before finding Danny sitting at the table following her with his eyes. She looked back at the clean clothes.

"Did you do this?" Louise asked. There was disbelief in her voice. It was Danny's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. That's what you told me to do, right?" Danny said nonchalantly. Louise frowned and pried her eyes away from Danny.

"Why? I thought you weren't my familiar?" Louise grumbled under her breath.

Danny sighed. He slumped into his arms where he sat backwards in one of the chairs, his arms folded over the back of the chair and his chin resting on his arms.

"I still don't understand what's going on." Danny admitted. Louise looked back to Danny. His gaze lingered on the floor at the foot of Louise's bed. His lips were curved in a mild frown, betraying his calm demeanor. "It's frustrating. But… but, I don't see why we can't cooperate. I'll be your familiar. I'm sorry… for this morning. I didn't mean to be so rude."

Louise was quiet for a long moment. She stared at Danny while he gazed at the ground. She wasn't sure how to feel. Her chest was heavy, a mix of apprehension and uncertainty. If she was honest with herself, she'd been nervous the whole day about this confrontation. Louise had expected another fight, another fallout. Some part of her mind had almost accepted the failure of her relationship with her familiar. But, just now, like a light breeze, the coolness of relief touched her chest. She felt the budding of excitement.

"Whatever, just make sure you listen to what I say next time." Louise said, forcing aggression in her tone. Danny sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you." Danny waved her off.

"Wait a minute." A thought struck Louise. She rose into a sitting position and glared at Danny. "How did you clean my clothes if you've been locked in this room the whole day?"

Danny froze. He looked up and met Louise's hard eyes and instantly knew he was in trouble. Clearing the clog in his throat with a gulp, Danny chuckled nervously.

"I have my skills." Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. Louise continued to glare at him, his gaze darted away from hers and wandered aimlessly around the room.

"Whatever." Louise concluded with a huff. She picked herself off the bed and moved to the dresser. She began to unbutton her shirt, stopping briefly when she heard the strangled noise Danny made.

Louise paused, her fingers paralyzed by some unseen force. Her cheeks flushed red. She shook her head, ridding the strange shyness that came over her. She stripped clean and tossed her clothing behind her, where she knew Danny was still sitting. Her heart was pounding fast against her chest. Breathing was laboring and soon she found herself sighing quietly. She shook her head, again. _What's wrong with me?_

"Clean those before tomorrow night if you want to eat." Louise's voice was firm, but if Danny had seen the blush on her face she would have lost all credibility. So she stood there, naked, facing her dresser trying to calm her nerves. She must've had a tiring day to get so worked up, Louise decided.

"S—Sure." Danny's own face was beet red. He was staring hard at the ground. He thought of closing his eyes, but he couldn't find it in himself to do so.

Louise finally pulled her gown on, before crawling into bed. Danny made his way to the stack of hay on the ground and sprawled out on the floor. He stayed there for a while, staring at the dark ceiling and waited for sleep. He thought about his situation. He thought about how long it'll be before he found a way home. He thought about his family probably worroed sick over him. Then, at last, he thought about how much his very existence meant to Louise. Where he stood between her and failure.

"G'night."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I don't know why I'm writing this honestly. I guess this is like my guilty pleasure.**

 **In this story, Danny is 16, one year older than at the end of the show (I think? Or perhaps the same age). Phantom World has happened, although I doubt it matters much in this story. Also, nothing happened between Danny and Sam.**

 **I do intend to make Danny and Louise into a paring as I have a serious lack of interest in any other character.**

 **Honestly, the** _ **Hedgehog's Dilemma**_ **could be the title of every single chapter in this story, lol. I should've named the entire series that, but idk. I like** _ **In You I Trust**_ **. It has a nice ring to it.**

 **Lastly, I haven't seen Zero no Tsukaima in—mmmmmmmm, like, six years or so. Whenever Season three came out. So I have yet to finish the show AND I have sizable gaps in my knowledge. However, like a good lil fanfic writer, I'm in the process of reembarking on that kinky journey.**

 **Leave your thoughts. I can use any advice you have.**


	2. A Chasm of One and a Half Inches

**A Chasm of One and a Half Inches**

 **I**

Danny followed Louise through the courtyard, passing an array of colorful familiars with their masters. Danny felt a little weird when he remembered he was supposed to be one of those strange pets to Louise as well. There were far more students than Danny had seen the day before.

"Stay out here during breakfast!" Louise instructed Danny. He glanced around and found the other familiars wandering the yard.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Danny deadpanned. His shoulders sagged with exasperation. "And am I supposed to eat the grass, too?"

"No. I will bring you food once I've finished eating." Louise answered with a pout. She turned around without further fanfare and walked through the double doors of the dining hall.

"Great." Danny groaned. He moved through the yard aimlessly trying to find something that might catch his attention until his 'master' returned with the first meal he'll have in two days. The other familiar all had a diverse array of mysticism. Somewhere fantastic beasts that rose seven feet into the air, like the golden bear with metallic fur. Others were small, like a serpentine fish that floated inches off the ground. Some were strangely familiar, like owls or dogs.

It seemed the statistic of summoning a human as a familiar was not as far fetch as Danny had originally thought. It seemed that there were scarcely two familiar of the same species. So maybe Danny was just the one human familiar. Nobody seemed all that surprised, well more than what Danny had thought they would be.

Finally, giving up on associating with the familiars, Danny slumped in the shade of a smaller building. He sighed and leaned his head back. The spot Danny chose was across the courtyard from the dining hall and a good distance away from the crowd of familiars meandering. His stomach growled loudly.

"Are you hungry?" Danny jerked his head to left and found a maid bending at the knees looking over him. His face instantly flushed red. His hand moved over his mutinous stomach to keep it from making anymore sound.

"Eh, heh, heh." Danny rubbed the back of his head. The embarrassment had already settled in and any further excuse had already died in his throat. "Kinda."

The maid smiled gently. She was cute, a small part of Danny's mind concluded. His embarrassment slipped away as he took in her face, the first face that smiled so gently to him since he had arrived.

The maid rose and hefted the basket in her hand so that it was easier to handle. She reached into the basket and retrieved a large muffin shaped bread concoction. The smell was wonderful. Danny's mouth began to water, he gulped trying to compose himself. She passed the bread clump to him, he hesitated not wanting to accept charity, but his stomach answered for him in the form of a growl. Danny took the muffin in both hands as if it were a precious jewel.

"Thanks!" Danny exclaimed. He dug into the meal with a vigor that was far more reminiscent of a child than he would have liked to. The maid giggled behind her hand. The sound bought Danny to a halt in mid swallowed and blushed, again. He really needed to stop acting like an idiot. "Um, sorry, I didn't ask for your name."

The maid seemed taken aback for a heartbeat before she refined her expressions.

"My name is Siesta." The maid did a little curtsey.

"Danny Fenton." Danny offered a smile.

"Yes, I know." Siesta giggled into her hand, again.

"You do?" Danny tilted his head. He was well aware of the blatant glances tossed his way from the numerous students at the academy. It unnerved him, knowing everyone was either sizing him up or, more likely, gossiping about him. The treatment was not unlike to his own high school after he did something stupid in front of the entire student body.

"Yes. Everyone has been speaking of you and your arrival." Siesta nodded charmingly. If Danny didn't know better, he'd think she was actually interested in his peculiar situation.

"Not a lot of good stuff said, I'm guessing." Danny ducked his head lower and resumed staring at his muffin. Siesta seemed alarmed by his tone.

"No, no! We're all very surprised. It's a little exciting to see a human summoned as a familiar." Siesta waved her hands as she spoke.

"Really?" Danny's interest was piqued. So it wasn't commonplace to find a human familiar. Maybe, that means he could convince Louise to treat him more human, eventually. But, that would be an uphill battle like no other Danny has experienced.

Their conversation was interrupted by a thick _boom_. The sound reverberated through the air and lashed the grass beneath Danny. The sound continued at a steady beat, like the drums of the heart.

Danny rose from the ground and darted his head back and forth searching for a threat. His shoulders tensed as the familiar haze of battle dropped over him.

The sun was blotted out by gargantuan mass. Danny looked skywards and gulped. The reptilian mass had wings spanning half the size of the clearing. The creature, a dragon, landed less than a dozen feet away from Danny and Siesta, sending wind colliding into both of them.

The dragon had a smooth blue leather skin with a pale white underside. Two massive arms and legs that coiled beneath its form. The dragon seemed to zero in on the two of them, its emerald eyes gleamed with excitement.

Siesta "eep-ed" and jolted to the ready. She held the basket close to her chest and covered the content with her free arm.

"S—Sylphid!" Seista began to back away. Danny had the bravery—or stupidity, he wasn't sure—to step in between Siesta and the colossal 20-feet-tall dragon. "Tabitha told me not to feed you, S—Sylphid! Y—Y—You're on a d—diet!"

The dragon lowered its head and grumbled a low sound. The ground seemed to vibrate with the demure groan of the beast. Danny's shoulders sagged. Sylphid didn't seem like it was aggressive, not like the other dragons Danny's encountered.

"'Diet?'" Danny turned to Siesta with a raised eyebrow. Siesta had already turned tail and ran off with a speed he did not expect from a person in a maid outfit. "Huh."

Sylphid hummed, the sound was as deep and rumbling as a small scale earth quake. Danny felt a chill run down his back. He slowly turned back to the dragon, now only a handful of feet away from himself.

"Crud." Danny spoke the word unconsciously.

The dragon had lowered its narrow head down so that it was at eye level with Danny. Its green eyes were like gemstones, gleaming at him expectantly. It turned its head lower and directed straight at the muffin in Danny's hands. Sylphid inched closer as if prompting Danny to release the muffin.

"Hey, hey. This is mine." Danny pulled the muffin away from Sylphid, cradling it not unlike Siesta had done. The dragon stretched out its neck and made to bite for the muffin, shoving Danny sideways a little.

Danny twisted around and moved the muffin further away from Sylphid. Sylphid pulled back and bit forward again. This time Danny jumped high into the air, catching nearly five feet to avoid the dragon's bite. Sylphid bit at the muffin again and again. Danny avoided by ducking under the dragon's head and pulling away.

"Mine." Danny clarified, again.

Sylphid seemed to have given up and slumped its head lower. Its massive body folded in on itself until it was fully lying on the grass. Its head lay in front of Danny's feet. Sylphid's eyes seemed to droop in disappointment. Danny wasn't stupid—wasn't _that_ stupid—he knew the dragon could've snatched the muffin away along with both of his arms if it had the heart to.

After a moment of debate, Danny sighed. He offered his barely eaten muffin to the dragon. Sylphid pounced up at the muffin nearly knocking Danny off his feet. In a snap, the muffin disappeared from Danny's hand.

Sylphid hummed contently. There was no way that the comparably tiny muffin had filled the dragon up, Danny thought. The dragon bent lower and licked Danny across his cheek. It pulled Danny up from his slump. Danny yelped in surprise, before wiping his cheek with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"C'mon…" Danny groaned. He glanced at the wet patch on his sleeve. Did dragon saliva wash off? Sylphid made a similar noise and stared at Danny. Finally, Danny sighed again and reached out and patted the dragon on the head above its nose. He smiled when Sylphid closed its eyes and hummed, again. "Good gigantic dragon."

 **II**

Danny followed Louise through the courtyard, lined with small tables and chairs. The students, second years, had taken to converse among themselves. Many were coddling their familiars between tea and snacks. It looked more like a fantasy dog park instead of an academy.

"The second years have the day off to bond with their familiars." Louise explained Danny's unspoken question. She marched through the courtyard, more or less avoiding those around her. It was hard to remember that Louise was very much a loner, much like Danny had been if not for his two best friends.

"Why don't we pick a table and start, uh, bonding, then?" Danny scratched the back of his head. The words definitely sounded better in his mind. Louise didn't so much as pause to consider his suggestion.

"I have better things to do." Louise answered in a stern voice. That damned superior tone she liked so much. Danny sighed, he was trying really hard to curb the coil of frustration when dealing with Louise. He was trying to amend their relationship after all, but that didn't mean he had to like it, just pretended to like it.

"Like? Anything interesting?" Danny asked halfheartedly. Between waiting for Louise during class and following her aimlessly after class, he was bored out of his mind. Not to mention it had been a solid two days since he had to fight off a ghost, and the calm was beginning to unnerve him.

"What does it matter to you?" Louise snapped. She came to a stop and stomped her feet. Her arms crossed over her chest. "Don't you have laundry to do?"

Danny's eyes narrowed. He quickly scrubbed his face with one hand to hide his grimace. He settled on an annoyed expression instead.

"Since when do people wash their clothes every day?" Danny sounded like he was whining. He didn't hate chores that much. But, if washing clothes and keeping his mouth shut meant a ticket back home Danny would endure any humiliation or tedium. Well, he didn't really have a choice. He needed Louise to be an ally.

"Since you became my familiar. Now, make yourself useful or get loss. Just stop bothering me." Louise barked. This time Danny couldn't hide his frown. He knew they had attracted the unwelcome attention of the other students. He knew if he snapped now it would severely damage Louise's reputation and maybe ruin their relationship forever. So he took a deep, silent breath and counted down from ten.

Danny made it to six before he sighed in frustration. He set his hands at his hips and hung his head.

"Fine, fine. I'll get out of your hair." Danny grumbled with practiced calmness. He turned on his heel and sauntered away still aimless, this time alone. He had missed Louise's own frown that tugged deeper as he retreated. She watched him walk away and decided to take her own path, less the students realized her apprehension of their argument.

Danny wandered on the outskirts of the courtyard just beyond the furthest line of tables and decided to watch the masters and their familiars. He couldn't help but think that he was different to the other animalistic creatures that dotted the yard. But, in reality Danny had begun to understand the parameters of what defines a familiar and in essence he was a familiar, if only vastly different from the norm.

It was a harrowing thought. Should he really be acting like those salamanders and eyeball creatures that bowed and jumped at the wimp of the academy students? How would Louise feel? Danny tried to put himself in her shoes. Tried really, really hard to think that familiars are simply animals, pets that the students are required to take care of. Then he thought if he had been Louise and summoned a supposedly animalistic familiar only to receive a human, how would he act? Would his demeanor truly be any different than Louise's right then? Disappointment. Embarrassment. Like adopting a dog only to realize it wasn't truly a dog, and even worse a human that would not listen to rhyme or reason.

Danny shook his head to rid the thought. He wasn't a dog. He wouldn't let himself lower his own dignity to be anyone's dog. It was unfair of Louise to even consider him a dog, much more that she had taken to calling him one. Then again… was it all that fair to Louise? Her lifelong partner, someone who (from Danny's observation) was supposed to be their best friend and maybe closest ally to be so difficult.

Danny grunted. His thoughts coming to a halt once again. Why couldn't Louise have summoned a normal fantasy creature? Why did they have to clash worlds like they did?

In the end of the day, that's what everything seemed to boil down to. Two worlds that could not be more opposite. Two opinions that differ on one contract: the summoning. One way or another, either Danny had to submit or Louise would have to submit. And that did not entail a happy ending. One would have to lose their dignity to the other in order to even cultivate a semblance of peace.

No. Danny frowned. That wasn't an option. He would never become a dog. Not again. But, Danny would not let Louise walk her path alone. She didn't deserve that. She couldn't afford more loneliness. And that was Danny's problem; he was naïve, he knew that better than anyone else. He refused to accept his position as a mere familiar and he refused to allow Louise to fall because of him. He will have to find a compromise. Like it or not. That was how Danny had always operated. He would not follow the rules set before him. He refused to accept that. Think outside the box, Fenton.

"Hello?" A voice called to him. It had an edge of annoyance to it. Danny blinked and realized a girl was standing in front of him. Had he zoned out, again? The girl was tapping her feet impatiently. She had brown hair and a maroon cloak, a first year?

"Sorry, I didn't catch that." Danny offered an embarrassed smile. The girl huffed, but her annoyance was replaced by urgency.

"I said, do you know where Lord Guiche is?" The girl asked, her hands moved to her chest bringing a white basket as if to emphasize her urgency. Danny scratched the back of his head.

"Um, I'm not sure I know him. He's a second year?" Danny craned his neck trying to remember if he overhead the name before. He certainly remembered something similar to that. But then again all the kids here had weird European names, half of which Danny couldn't even pronounce properly.

"He's handsome, and blond, and has a beautiful voice!" The girl sounded more urgent as she continued. Danny wondered there was actually some serious problem. It wasn't as if her descriptions helped narrow down the suspects at all. He wanted to just tell her to keep looking, there was only so many second years in the courtyard after all. But, the part of Danny that was overly nosy—the same part that kicked in when he was Phantom—seemed to refuse to let up his help.

"How does he look like, beside his hair color." There were a lot of blond kids around. His eyes scanned the heads of the crowds of second years.

"He carries a rose—" it had clicked almost instantly.

"Oh, him." Danny raised one index finger in realization. He found the mop of messy blond hair almost instantly. Danny had taken to watch the familiars and the students at the academy if only to alleviate his boredom. "I'll take you to him."

The girl nodded in gratitude.

Danny weaved through the crowd of familiars and found Guiche sitting at one of the tables with another student. A girl was crazy curly blond hair. The man was definitely some kind of Monte Cristo wannabe. He wore an expensive tunic that opened at the chest in a deep V-neck. The rim of his shirt was frailly. It was certainly an interesting fashion statement.

When Danny came up to the table, the blond girl raised an eyebrow, drawing Guiche's attention to him as well. Guiche made a similar face of dismissive inquiry.

"Can I help you, commoner?" Guiche leaned back in his seat and spoke with a tone that immediately rubbed Danny the wrong way. He knew people like this. The popular kids that thought they were heaven's gift because they hailed from a rich family and tried to look the part, but often times ended up looking like… well, Guiche.

"Someone's looking for you." Danny waved to the first year. Guiche followed with his eyes. The moment he landed on the first year his eyes bulged like saucers. Oh boy.

Guiche rose from his seat and slammed both palms on the table, startling Danny and Blond Curls. Guiche's face had paled to an ashen white.

"K—Ketty!" Danny swore the man squealed.

"Lord Guiche, I thought I'd bring my handmade soufflé you said you liked last night to the tea party!" The first year, Ketty, pulled up the basket.

"'Last night?'" Blond Curls' face flattened to an unimpressed glare.

"Ha, ha, ha." Guiche waved his hands in front of him to dispel the not-so-misconception brewing in the two girls. "Um—no its—uh, it's not what you think!"

"And what would that be?" Blond Curls snapped. Guiche shrunk back a little, knocking his chair back to the ground. "Who is this, Guiche?"

"T—This is—uh, this is Ketty." Guiche tried his very best to formulate a plan to defuse the situation.

"Are you two-timing?" Blond Curls' voice rose into a booming roar. This time Guiche actually backed away.

"No—No! I would," Guiche's voice broke as he swallowed hard on the clump that formed in his throat. "No, that is just a baseless accusation! Montmorency, such harsh words are unbefitting such a delicate beauty that is your—"

"Lord Guiche! I thought you said I was your one and only lover!" Ketty pushed closer to Guiche. Her voice was trembling and honest horror was manifesting in her eyes.

"Ketty, that's true! This is all a huge, colossal, magnificent misunderstanding!" Guiche waved his hands faster, this time more to shield himself from the two girls.

"So there _is_ something going on with you and a first year!" Montmorency howled with more anger than grief. Danny had to hand it to the guy, he had a very wide variety in taste.

"Montmorency, your beautiful, rosy face should not contort into such a… menacing expression! It does not befit the gorgeous—" Guiche was interrupted again, this time by a hearty laughter Danny couldn't suppress. Guiche jerked his head to Danny, but before he could shout any insults, Montmorency launched out of her seat and slapped the man across the face. Guiche fell back and landed on his rear.

The whole courtyard was now at full attention. They stared shamelessly at the drama that had exploded around their resident idiot. Danny had the mind to step back from the table less he cought a strong hook as collateral.

Montmorency marched off, clearly not wanting anything to do with the cheater. Ketty retreated as well more embarrassed than angry.

Guiche's head darted to Danny. His eyes were filled with venom. He pushed himself up and faced Danny with trembling shoulders.

"Wait a minute, now." This time it was Danny's turn to raise his hands. Guiche ignored Danny's words and pointed a finger into Danny's chest.

"You! You did this! You fiend! How could you break the hearts of two lovely maidens such as they?" Guiche cried. His shoulders where shaking with anger.

"I said, wait a minute!" Danny exclaimed, but the track had already been plotted. There were no brakes on Guiche's fury train. He whipped his other hand from under his cloak and retrieved his signature rose. It looked very much like a weapon now that it was being wielded by a love pained maniac.

"You despicable, commoner!" Guiche brandished his rose in barely controlled anger. Then, almost as if turning a switch his fury-twisted face calmed and formed into a sinister grin. "I challenge you to a duel, peasant!"

The crowd of students suddenly blossomed with whispers.

"Guiche's picking a fight with the peasant familiar?"

"That commoner's dead."

"What a pair of trouble makers."

Danny felt his eyes twitch. Since when had he been a trouble-maker in all of the two days since he's arrived? In fact, he thought he was on his best behavior yet. Of course, this academy was akin to high school. There was no common sense to spare.

"I refuse." Danny said in a flat voice. Guiche's eyes gleamed like he had already claimed victory.

"Ha! Not a surprise coming from the familiar of Zero!" Guiche fell into a barking laughter. Danny felt that coil of anger he had carefully tucked away swinging back full force. How was Louise involved in this? "Such a pathetic commoner you are. A coward like your master!"

Danny's hands balled into fists. He knew Guiche was provoking him. He knew for a fact that if he accepted this duel it would only spell trouble for himself and Louise. He _knew_. But, after two days of being cowed by Louise, Danny felt his naturally free soul burn with rage. He wouldn't take this form a cheater. Danny couldn't stand there as Louise was being mocked.

"Fine, if you want a duel, let's have a duel." Danny growled. Guiche perked up, his eyes shining with excitement. He waved his rose flippantly.

The clamor of the crowd grew. The students backed away forming a generous circle in the middle of the courtyard.

Guiche whipped his rose, casting a single petal to the ground. The earth glowed with a brilliant light. The soil morphed and grew. It climbed upwards before condensing into a solid form of a puppet knight six feet tall. The creature was armored from head to toe. Its lifeless eyes stared deep into Danny's.

Danny gulped. Ok, that wasn't what he had expected from a duel. Then again, he should have known. He _should have_. These academy students were all so high and mighty because of their magical abilities, like spoil children. Of course they would implement what they thought elevated them over Danny.

"That's low." Danny growled. He pulled back, his body ready for action. A small whisper of a thought urged him to pull on the icy core within his chest, but Danny squashed that thought as quickly as it flickered to life.

"Guiche the Bronze has graced you with his full magnificence, commoner! Look upon my Valkyrie, the pinnacle of grace and danger!" Guiche waved his rose in a flourish. He waved his rose outward to point at Danny. "Prepare yourself, filthy commoner! Face my beauty and know fear!"

The Valkyrie launched forward with incredible speed. It landing an iron fist into Danny's gut, pulling his body off the ground from the force. Danny wheezed as air fled his lungs. He stumbled back holding his stomach with both arms. The pain was not something Danny was unfamiliar with, but to feel it in his human form— it was crushing. Danny almost fell backwards, but he willed himself upright with sheer determination. He gasped for air, his lungs were burning now.

The Valkyrie did not pause to let Danny recover and slammed its hammer of a fist across Danny's left cheek. The force was so solid Danny couldn't hold his balance. He fell backward on the ground. His eyes swam with white specks. He felt a burning ache form in his jaw, no doubt resulting an ugly bruise.

The Valkyrie pulled back and stood lifelessly in front of Guiche.

"Ha! What a weak familiar you are, commoner!" Guiche voice was dripping with glee. The other students were murmuring, again. Somewhere hollering for Guiche to finish Danny. Guiche smirked as Danny's hands clawed at the ground. "I shouldn't have expect anything more from Zero's creation! You are truly a fitting pair of disappointment!"

Danny grunted. He was pouring all of his strength into breathing. His chest was thick with pressure, like something heavy had been set square on his ribcage. His vision slowly returned, but he was now seeing doubles. He splayed his palm over the grass and pushed himself up with a grunt. His stomach cried in agony.

The murmurs of the crowd hushed as Danny slowly climbed to his feet. He tasted blood in his mouth and knew some had already drooped over the corner of his mouth. He rubbed the trail of blood with the back of his hand He forced his body to stand upright. His stomach pinched painfully, there was a tearing sensation inside his abdomen. He couldn't fully close his mouth.

"This mortifying display of bravado is quite foolish, commoner." Guiche wasn't even looking at Danny now. His voice was dripping with dismissal. Danny could barely hear the man, he felt sick, like the ground was dancing beneath his feet, but he stood firm glaring back at Guiche through his bangs. The blond sighed over dramatically. "Simply yield and we can move pass this embarrassing act."

Danny spat blood out of his mouth and readied himself.

"Like hell I'm gonna yield to a two-timer." Danny hissed. His jaw was burning with the effort of speaking. The students seemed to wince at his statement. Guiche himself had stilled, his jovial eyes narrowed into festering anger.

"Very well, Peasant Familiar." Guiche waved his rose again, this time without the usual flair. Another petal fell in front of Danny. The ground glowed and rose before sinking into the narrow shape of a sword. Danny stared at the sword weighing the possibility it was some sort of a ruse. But, then Guiche was not in a position where he needed to implement a trap. It wouldn't make him look good.

Danny took hold of the sword. The weight was surprisingly light in his hands. He had used a sword before on his journeys, but once again, he has never done so in his human form. He never expected to feel so heavy. His body felt sluggish in comparison, clumsy even. And the pain burned so much hotter.

When the Valkyrie advanced again, Danny was ready. He dashed forward with as much speed his legs could muster and pulled the sword hard with both hands. The sword flickered and bashed against the Valkyrie's abdomens, between two plates of armor. Danny pushed with unnatural strength. Years of ghost exploits had elevated his physical abilities beyond any normal humans were capable of.

The sword broke through the Valkyrie, splitting the earth summon in two. The bottom half toppled backwards as its upper body fell further away with a thud. Danny rose from his crouch and flicked his sword to his side. He turned to Guiche who stood astonished.

Guiche reigned his expression back from his open gaping. His face contorted into a nasty sneer.

"No matter. Your efforts are ultimately futile!" Guiche swung his rose fervently, trashing his arms in the air. The petals expelled from the force of the swing. They landed in the dozens in front of Guiche, each forming into identical Valkyries.

Six Valkyries advanced as one. Danny blocked the first metallic arm with his sword, but the second had snuck under his guard and jabbed its fist into Danny's side. His hold on his sword weakened as he doubled over. Danny pushed his sword forward and threw the first Valkyrie back, he hopped back and ducked under the second's horizontal swing, before landing a kick on the summon's ankle, knocking the thing to the ground.

Danny pulled his sword up in both hands. He gasped in air and hissed it out. He felt his eyes twitch, shifting between the fine line of blue and green. A Valkyrie jumped and pulled its fists downward over Danny. He sidestepped and swung his sword locking against the iron armor around the Valkyrie's neck. Danny's eyes darted to his left—another Valkyrie had dashed behind him—he threw himself to the ground and rolled back onto his feet, barely missing the strike launched behind him.

Danny rose from his crouch, he sensed the Valkyrie behind him before he saw the shadow beneath his feet, but his body simply could not react as fast as his mind had demanded. The Valkyrie hammered its fists onto Danny's back. He stumbled forward and gasped. White flickered across his visions. Another Valkyrie had advanced on him and landed another jab into his stomach. Danny fall back and landed on the ground, his sword fell out of his grip.

Danny tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't see anything. His body was crying with a thousand different sensations. A crushing flame spread through his abdomen and across his jaw.

"Stop this, right now!" Danny froze, recognizing that voice anywhere. His eyes finally cracked open and saw the Valkyries pull back from above him. Under the sunlight, a cascade of pink hair came into view. Louise was looking down at him, her expression muted by the sun's glare. She turned towards Guiche. "I demand you stop this foolishness."

"This was your filthy familiar's fault!" Guiche yelled back. His viciousness suddenly lost now that he was speaking with a fellow noble. He balled his fists. "You cannot stop a duel, Zero. It ends when someone yields, or someone dies."

"Murder is illegal on academy grounds." Louise growled. Her fury was barely contained.

"Yes, but it isn't murder when both parties agree to the duel." Guiche waved off Louise's anger like waving off a nat.

Louise's shoulders lowered. She turned her gaze back to Danny, who had rose to sit on the ground. He didn't meet her eyes.

"Is this true?" Louise spoke the question quietly, but Danny recognized the anger boiling beneath her voice. He didn't answer, he couldn't bring himself to even look Louise in the eyes. Deciding she wouldn't be getting an answer from Danny, Louise turned to Guiche. "As my familiar I am forcing him to yield."

Guiche frowned.

"You can't do that, and you know it, Zero." Guiche spat. Danny tried to pushed himself off the ground. Breathing was a labor, but he could push on. Louise glared at Danny knowing all too well he wouldn't back down.

Louise shifted her glare back to Guiche. She extracted her wand and steadied it at Guiche. The blond froze for a moment, struck with genuine fear.

"I say this ends, now." Louise state once more. Her grip on her wand tightened. There were no technicalities to the tradition of duels, but Louise knew well enough that all she needed was to convince one of the two boys to yield, then there wouldn't be any more pain.

Guiche's fear evaporated, replaced by a sly grin.

"Oh, please." Guiche extended his arms outwards in exuberance, his eyes dancing between the faces of the crowd. "Louise the Zero? Zero accuracy. Zero affinity. Zero magic capabilities. Threatening me? Do show the academy how perfect you two fit together as master and familiar. Careful not to send yourself to the infirmary, again. Try and not cripple yourself, again."

Louise's frown deepened at his words, but her wand didn't waver. She would not let his words sway her, even if Guiche did manage to speak to her fear. She still remembered the feeling of fire over her right arm from her last explosive failure. She remembered the flame spreading across her robe and singeing her skin, the crushing air pressure that nearly broke her ankles as she landed on the ground. But, Louise held her wand firmly.

Guiche waved his rose, the Valkyrie shifted at ready. Louise's eyes narrowed. She was whispering her incantations under her breath in preparation, but she didn't dare pour magic into her wand just yet. She knew for a fact that she didn't agree to enter this duel, therefore Guiche wouldn't be able to hurt her severely, not if she didn't draw first. That meant she only had to get a little hurt, just a little, then she could report him. She just needed to take a single hit.

"I yield." The words broke both mages from their tense haze. Louise blinked a couple times. Her incantations had fallen apart by the words. She turned to Danny who was still sitting on the ground. His head was turned away, scowling at the ground. Guiche had eased up his rose. The Valkyries shimmered and sank back into the earth.

"Was that so hard?" Guiche feigned exasperation. He sighed and shook his head as if he had just pacified a bothersome conflict.

Louise replaced her wand and turned around with a flare. Danny didn't look up as she walked away. He was glaring at the grass beneath him, focusing on each individual blades. The crowd had slowly begun to disperse, washing the yard with chatter and gossip, no doubt on his failures. He could hear them ridiculing him and Louise together.

"Dog," Louise had called him. Danny turned his head and found Louise nearly halfway across the courtyard, standing so her profile faced him, "come."

 **III**

Danny had followed Louise wordlessly for the rest of her day. They had barely spoken a handful of words to one another, but Danny wasn't really trying to begin with. The few words Louise had said had been instructions: "stay," "wait," "come." At the end, they had returned to her dorm. Danny once again not given food.

Louise entered the room, but stopped just pass the door. Her shoulders began to tremble. Danny couldn't see her face, but he had a feeling she was furious with him. He had expected as much. The whole day he had contemplated when she would finally chew him out. He wasn't ready for it, but he knew he just had to bite his tongue and get it over with.

Louise spun around and her eyes were ablaze. She bared her teeth and screamed at him.

"You stupid dog!" She had screamed. Danny flinched back, despite preparing himself for her words. He had never expected so much emotion in her voice. Her voice which was shaking as much as the rest of her body. She looked like a bomb rattling, ready to incinerate him. "You _idiotic_ , insufferable, _useless_ , shortsighted, ignoramus!" Her head swiveled with the insults. She lashed her arms out, as if saying the words were a physical force, as if she was attacking him with a whip. The pain stung like one. "What were you thinking? You _weren't_ thinking, you never even _consider_ the consequences of your actions! The ramification of your words. Do you understand what could have happened? Do you have _any_ idea what you could have done? You think that was a petty school brawl. He could have _killed_ you! What then?"

Louise was panting from her efforts. Her words had taken a physical toll on her. Her shoulders bobbed up and down as she breathed. Her eyes were glistening with indescribable anger. Her hands balled into fists. Her mouth hanging open from exertion.

Danny couldn't feel his body. He felt numb. A coldness that crawled over his arms and legs, making him feel like he was floating. He felt like a ghost. He couldn't breathe. A thickness clogged his chest. A pressure that pulled harder on his paralyzed rib cage. It felt like he was rotting. Fire burned behind his eyes, but he set his jaws tight against itself to still his emotions.

What then? If he had died, what then? Then, Louise would be alone, without a familiar. Then they would laugh at her; mock her for her failure. People would whisper poisonous words about her. She would go on the rest of her years at the academy as someone who killed her familiar. She would be scorned, perhaps for the rest of her life. Louise would be a laughing stock.

I get it, Danny spoke to himself. His voice was cold and hollow to his mind. Danny understood the position he was in. He was a familiar, someone who served to further their master's will. Perhaps he was replaceable, but at the very least not easily. His only job—his _only_ purpose in this world was to assist Louise, and now he had done the opposite. How furious was Louise to find out his uselessness? I get it, she would be at a disadvantage. A familiar shouldn't cause problems for their master.

"I get it." Danny spoke the words he rehearsed in his mind. His eyes fell to the ground and his conviction left him. He had hoped to sound tough, strong enough to uphold his duty as her familiar, but his face contorted into disgusting self-pity he had been so very accustomed to. Unconsciously, he repeated the very words he had said earlier that day, "I'll get out of your hair."

Louise bristled at the comment. Her shoulders rose with uncontrollable rage. She was breathing frantically, now. Louise's entire frame was wracked with irrepressible emotion. Her eyes gleamed in the light, her cheeks red, and her lips parted again and again with unspoken words. Finally, she took hold of the door and swung it close. The wood slammed against the frame with a bang, blowing Danny's bangs back.

Danny stared at the door for a long time. He stared as if he could still see through to the other side. He imagined he could see Louise. He imagined the door was still open to him, but it wasn't. He stared.

 **IV**

Louise stared at the closed door. She could still feel the wood in her hands when she swung with enough force to break the skin on her fingers. Beads of red formed on her slender digits, but Louise paid the pain no mind. She simply stared at the door. She stared at Danny across the wooden barrier. Her mouth opened and she spoke, but her voice would not come.

Louise lay her head on the wooden surface, then pressed her unharmed hand over the door. She could almost feel Danny on the other side, separated by a chasm of one and a half inch of wood. Her voice couldn't reach him. As hard as she tried, her voice wouldn't come.

Danny's eyes marred her mind. His voice, so empty as he spoke his words. Louise had seen those eyes before—she heard those words before, with different vocabulary, but the same voice. She had seen countless times, the poor, lost souls that were chained into servitude in her family or another noble's household. She recognized the look of death. And she had itched that look into Danny's eyes.

Louise's legs buckled and gave away under her. She slid down the length of the door and landed in a huddle twisting her body so her back was against the door. She pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. Her head felt heavy with exhaustion, weighing her chin onto her arms. Warmth spread from behind her eyes, around her cheeks, and up to the tip of her ears. Hotness blurred her vision and slid down her cheeks like fresh wounds.

What then? What would I do if you had died? Louise wanted to speak aloud, but, again, her voice failed her. How can I live with myself if I let you die? How can I live with myself when all of your pain is my fault?

 **V**

The morning came and passed. Danny had been sleepless as he had often been when his body and mind were equally disheveled. But, when the doorknob to Louise's room rattled, Danny had shuffled and froze in a position reminiscent to sleep. He closed his eyes and steadied his breath. He heard Louise open the door and step out into the hallway. She paused as his prone form came into view. Danny's heart was pounding loudly in his chest, and he prayed she couldn't hear it.

Louise stood there for a long time. Danny became unnerved as there was not a single sound in the morning hallway. He thought Louise was examining him, that she recognized he wasn't asleep. But, he refused to move, be it pride or embarrassment, he stuck to his act.

Eventually, Louise sighed. The sound was haggard, as if Louise herself was exhausted. She must be tired of the sight of him. Like a mold, unmoving and bothersome. Danny's hand tucked behind his head formed into a fist, but he continued to feign sleep.

Then, for the second time in 24 hours, his stomach betrayed him. It growled loudly, filling the still morning air with a rumbling made only louder by the serene quietness. Danny clamped down on his features with an iron will. Somehow—somehow against all odds, he fought off the blush the threatened to rise to his cheeks.

Still, Louise did not move. Danny pondered the risk of cracking one eye open to see if she was still there in the first place, but he could feel her presence. She, like all human, were warm and the opposite of how he sensed ghost and their chilly nature. He could feel her warmth like an aura.

There was a guttural sound. Something between a whine and choke, Danny wasn't sure. Louise turned away, her boots clicked against the stone floor. She closed the door and marched away at a pace close to running. Her footsteps echoed down the hall and down the spiral stairs.

Danny opened his eyes slowly to the empty hallway.

"I'm such a coward." Danny grumbled to the air. He stretched out his arms and legs. His body was sore from yesterday's duel. His stomach still burned like fire. His back was aching as if he had fell asleep midway through a game of Twister. His jaws—well, it hurt like hell when he yawned.

For all of Danny's ghost healing, which was superior to most ghosts' by leaps and bounds, was working at an impressive speed of a snail's crawl. He had to be _in_ his ghost form to utilize the full capacity of his abilities. While in his human form they translated to a measly 1/200th of its original capabilities (the calculation, although ridiculous, was probably correct as Tucker had done it).

Danny rose from the floor. His body was sore all over from sleeping on hard floor, but at least it wasn't wet this time around. He walked through the halls and out into the massive courtyard outside. The morning sun was already glaring down over the academy grounds. What seemed like thousands of academy students wandered through the massive fields of grass and cobblestone. It reminded Danny of some kind of old university his parents used to drag him and his sister to when they were kids.

Danny spent the day away on one of the walls that divided the academy. He made sure the surrounding was clear before sitting down on air. He crossed his legs hovering a foot off the ground and slumped his shoulders with a sigh. The wind carried the chilly autumn air through Danny's hair, it brought with it the scent of flowers from the neighboring mountains. The sky was marble blue with sparse wisps of clouds dragging across.

If Danny squinted, he could still see the foreign constellations that dotted the sea in the sky. They were alien to Danny, which was unnerving. The sky had always been the same no matter where he was or, often more relevant, what situation he found himself in. The stars were like a lighthouse in the churning sea that guided Danny home.

Yet, the unfamiliarity was exhilarating as well; if the sky was a sea and the stars were lighthouses, then what Danny was looking at was an entirely new world. He had wanted to be an astronaut for the obvious reason of exploration, like a government sanctioned pirate sailing through the night sky.

Danny remained floated there for a long time, watching the sky slowly transition through its many faces. He felt the wind grow warm, then cold again as morning passed to afternoon. The wind carried the call for home.

So engrossed in the sky and his own memories, Danny didn't notice the rising shadow that towered behind the wall.

 **VI**

Louise was a smart girl. Contrary to the misconception of the other students and even the staffs of the academy; Louise was very intelligent. She graduated the top of her class in grade school and among the top rings in junior academy, before her scores plummeted here. But, if they were to strip the academy of all the hands-on magic exercise, Louise was still at the top of her class. She understood the lessons, the process of magic and how they operated.

Louise had ears and she understood how the duel transpired yesterday. Louise, understood Guiche, being the idiot he was, had picked a fight with an easy target to avert his embarrassment. Nonetheless, Danny had fallen to Guiche's taunting which led to the possibly disastrous consequences. In no fashion did Louise feel Danny was victimized. He was goaded into a disadvantageous confrontation, and that in of itself was enough for reprimanding.

Yet—Louise bit on her bottom lip. Her feathered pen froze over the stack of thick parchment half filled with her morning assignment. A pang formed in her stomach as her mind returned to the night before. She saw his face, sullen and unchanging, even as the door closed before him. The shock of the door must've felt like a slap across the face, it certainly felt like she landed one.

Louise set her pen down and collected her paper. The room around her were drowned in a wash of chatter as the students spent their time socializing rather than preparing for class. No one spoke to Louise, as she did not speak with anyone else. A small circle had formed around her as if mapping out the blast radius of a potential explosion. But, Louise didn't mind, she had work to finish unlike the other slackers. And yet, they still had higher gades than she did…

Louise had skipped breakfast. Seeing the eyes of every student on her was unnerving. She promised herself she wouldn't back down from the collective gazes of her enemies… but, today was different. Today, Louise felt unrested. Her sleep, although tumultuous, was enough. However, the uneasy feeling wrapped around her like a web. Louise didn't feel right, as if she had forgotten something, like she was naked—exposed.

Vulnerable. That's how Danny had looked sprawled out on the stone floors outside her room. Louise had half expected Danny to run away or perhaps taken to another student. The thought had terrorized her in the night, pulling her from her dreams in a barely restrained cry. It took all of her will not to ease open the door to make sure Danny was still there, but her fear of waking him stilled her actions.

When Louise finally opened the door that morning, to say she was relief was an understatement. She was paralyzed before Danny. Ebbs and push of emotions Louise wasn't even sure she could comprehend wrecked her body; happiness because Danny had stayed by her side, guilt for putting him through so much pain, pity for an innumerable reason, and so much more.

Louise rose from her seat and made her way out of the lecture hall. The other students gingerly followed her lead and exited from their noon lecture. The sun was still high in the sky. And a soft breeze swept through Louise's unkempt hair, and sent a shiver down her back. In the pleasure of the sun's light, Louise let herself relax a little and sagged her shoulders as she marched. Exhaustion was already quick on her heels even though half of her classes haven't been met yet.

Louise shook her head furiously. Her pink curls bounced back and forth like dress twirling elegantly. She pulled back and pivoted on her heels and made her way back to the center of the academy. A plan was slowly beginning to formulate in her sluggish mind. She would go to the mess hall and bring back food for both herself and Danny, as a sort of peace offering or perhaps a treaty. Louise would be lying to herself if she said she wanted to continue this silence game.

Her thoughts were ground to halt when the very Earth itself began to tremble. The soil beneath Louise cracked open like bread, webbing of dark brown dirt crawled along the surface of grass and separated like a flower bud. Underneath the thick layer of grass and soil, another layer began to emerge. It was lighter in color than the soil and far more solid.

Essence infused rock, Louise noted somewhere in the back of her mind. The color is achieved after ether was infused into the atomic structure of solid rock—most commonly granite or clay—due to the ether's strange similarity to hydrogen, it oxidizes the rocks before contorting into a rigid shape to the summon.

A second later, Louise's survival mind kicked her analytical mind to the curb and she stumbled back. The ground had risen two feet into the air, carrying Louise along with it. She tumbled back and rolled onto flatter ground only to by picked up once more by the erection of the massive earthen creation. Finally, landing and crawling several meters way from the rupture.

The rock summon had risen over the earth, leaving clumps of soil clinging on the summon's many creases and cleavages. It was a rock golem. It was a rock golem. It bears repeating, because it was the second largest rock golem Louise had seen in the entirety of a well-traveled life. The golem rose from its hunched over position, reaching at least 100 feet tall, looming its head over a good portions of the academy buildings.

The massive golem twisted itself around with the majesty of colossus, which Louise pointedly noted instilled something akin to absolute terror. She stared, wide eyed, as the lumbering behemoth rotated the segments of circular rocks that constructed its torso. The movement shook loose a large crunch of soil, showering it over Louise's small body—microscopic in comparison.

She felt her throat tighten, cutting off a cry for help—or was it a scream of fear, she wasn't sure. Louise's mind jumbled over itself, like a dozen different thoughts colliding, or a dozen different dogs strapped to one another. Should she move—did she even have a time to move? What if she cast a spell? She would die twice, then—no, there wasn't even time to recite an incantation!

All she could do was watch, her body paralyzed by a spell or pure, unadulterated fear, at the golem merely a few steps away from her position. Its gigantic head rotated downward and landed its hollow gaze at her frozen form. There was a mage behind those carved out sockets, beyond the marble conduit set deep within each eye. A mage that would kill Louise.

The titanic golem craned one long leg from under the trench of freshly dug up dirt, pushing and ripping the ground further by its movement. The feet itself was nothing more than a flatten slab of rock that expanded for more stability. Its leg clambered into the air and far over Louise's head casting her form in shadow. Overwhelmingly big. The feet of the golem poised over her, it felt like time froze as Louise stared at what she knew would be her end.

This giant's foot was going to be the last thing I see, Louise realized. Her mind felt blank, empty except for the ever rotting fear that dug through her limbs like the roots of an invasive weed festering in her blood. There were so many things Louise hasn't seen—promises that haven't yet been kept—people she wanted to see! Louise's mind howled in despair. She did not want to die. She wanted to live!

Then, before Louise could muster the fire to reject the will of a two-hundred-ton earth golem, the foot fell downwards. A massive hammer of rock slamming down setting whiplashes through the courtyard. In a flash of black, Louise knew she had been crushed. There was no pain. Nothing but the endless black and brown of the void—

—Louise gasped and pulled back closer to the ground.

A flicker of black, true black, and a strike of lighting white. A man—no barely older than a boy, stood a few steps over Louise, his back turned to her. Black suit stretched over slender body, a shock of snow white hair. _Holding_ up the massive wall of rock that was the golem's feet—that was Louise's death.

His arms shook as he upheld the golem, like Atlas, holding the entirety of the sky.

With a worldly cry, the golem rose higher, at first by inches. Retracting from the ground—no, it was lifted from the ground, from over Louise. The golem's gigantic feet rose and lumbered backwards. Every segment of its rock body ground together in a nasty growl as the golem tilted over the rupture in the ground.

With one final thrust, the boy threw the foot of the golem into the air with such whirlwind force it toppled the golem off balance, sending it crashing to the ground. The golems body like a castle tower broken and crashing, smashing into the ground and sending the dust and dirt and soil into the sky in a bloom.

Louise dropped to the ground and covered her face with both arms as the Golem crashed into the ground. The impact sounded like the god of thunder striking against the clouds. The ground shook with the force of a high caliber earthquake jolting Louise up into the air and back down until she wasn't sure which direction was which. The Earth roared under Louise as its inners were forcibly rearranged.

The shaking passed as soon as it had come. Louise peeked her eyes over her arms and almost choked on her own breath. The boy turned around and glanced down at Louise, and she felt her heart seize up. Louise remembered those eyes, green like soul fire, but familiar. They were the same eyes that stared at her pass the threshold of her dormitory the very night prior.

"Danny." Louise's voice surprised herself more than Danny whose eyes widen her accusation. All doubt, if there were even any, vanished at that clueless gawking. A hundred thousand questions rushed to her mind, overwhelming her executive functions, leaving her gaping at her familiar. Then, a rush of emotion rocked her like a tidal wave, completely jumbled and not at all comprehensible.

The ground rumbled, grabbing both of their undivided attention to the chasm that only seemed to have grown after the golem's crash landing. All thought of question fled Louise as the head of the golem slowly levered out of the underground and into the air. Then it's body followed with far more speed than it had previously. Louise noticed the slight yellow shimmer around the golem's surface; an indicator to the intensity and amount of ether pumped into the summon to accelerate the mage's control over it.

In no time, the golem had rose to its full height once more. It was only a dozen meters away from Louise and Danny, but in a single step it would be on top of them yet again.

"We have to evacuate. If we lure the golem away from the buildings, then the academy guards will be able to—" Louise's words fell flat as Danny launched into the air. Not a leap. Danny propelled into the sky with as much ease as a wind spirit, almost as if he was weightless. He soared through the air, swirling around the golem with speed Louise found hard to follow.

Danny twisted around the rear of the golem and drove into the center of the summon. The golem turned, trying to evade, Danny missed striking the shoulder of the golem. Even missing his initial target, Danny's hit rung true, and the golem's entire upper form jerked downwards by the force of the attack. A crater lay where the shoulder had once been, crack spread down the back of the golem, breaking chips and chunks off the back the segments of the arm like dry clay.

The golem swung one massive arm, longer and thicker than tree trunks, and barely missed Danny as he pulled back and dived backwards into the ground before turning in mid-flight and pulled himself back into the sky with the added momentum of the drop. A grin already plastered along with a mischievous smile.

"Man, too slow. Ever think about hitting the gym, big guy?" Danny hollered as he eased into a gentle float in the air just out of the golem's reach.

The golem responded jolting upwards and swinging both arms into a clap. Two clay hands larger than Danny's entire body, slammed around Danny crushing his body into nothingness.

Louise's mind seized up. She fumbled for her wand strapped under her cloak and waved it into the air. Incantation half already spoken, and half forgetten. Pushing all of her magic she could muster, Louise flicked her wand at the towering golem.

For a bated breath, nothing happened but the hissing wind and the drums of rushing blood in Louise's ears. Cold stones formed in Louise's stomach as she realized her spell had failed as it always had. The thought of an actually successful spell had been so sweet in her mind.

Then, the wall of the tower behind the golem erupted in a plume of smoke and a strike of thunder. The cloud faded leaving a sizable hole on the side of the building. The golem, on the other hand, was unharmed. The head of the golem turned to the building, observing the damage with an almost animated face of disbelief, even if an earthen golem couldn't form expressions.

"Hey, hey. Eyes on me."

Louise's nearly jumped from her position, still way too close to the golem for comfort. She followed the voice to the sky behind the golem. Danny landed on the air as if standing on solid ground, an arrogant smirk comfortably in place. The boldness surprised Louise. She had never seen or even thought such a look was possible on the normally shy and awkward boy. But now it was like Danny was a completely different person. Confidence oozed off of Danny from the way he moved to the way he spoke in that mild, yet resounding voice.

The golem raised its right arm and opened its palm towards Danny. A dozen spikes erected from the golem's open palm. The nubs exploded outwards in pellets of rocks narrow and sharp like massive bolts of arrows, half a foot in diameter and as long as Danny was tall.

Danny blitzed into action, slipping through the barrage of clay javelins like a water snake through a fast current. He weaved from bullet to bullet, spiraling into the golem. He flew around the golem's massive risen arm like a dancer's ribbon—a snake coiling up for a strike—then plunged into middle of its segmented arm where the elbow should have been, bending the whole arm to one side.

"You're aims off, lemme give you a hand!" Danny called to the golem. His arms wrapped tightly around what surface he could reach around the summon's arm. Danny pushed forward, pulling the golem off balance. With all of his strength, Danny crushed the segment of the golem's arms between his two hands and _twisted_ , the arm groaned under the pressure, then shatter with a thick bulking groan like crumbling icecaps. Danny released the arm and watched it fall to the ground. More rocks cascading out of the golem's severed wound like blood.

Danny gasped from the exertion and once again pulled away, giving a generous distance between him and the golem, and away from Louise. "Oh, boy. No biggie. Just walk it off, champ."

The golem stumbled back. The ground churned beneath Louise, rising and falling like a legion of earthworms crawling up the golem's legs. The earth rose from under the golem. Fresh clay clumped upwards and into the golem's legs. The stump of the right arm bulged then expelled outwards in a grotesque, contorted shape akin to twisted flesh, then condensed down into the form of its missing right arm.

"Whoa, hey! That's cheating, dirt-brain!" Danny shouted. His smile was gone, now. Danny was aware that some academy students were already beginning to gather around the courtyard, but thankfully they kept their distance. The golem was too big to be relocated, the process of luring it out of the academy would probably end up having half the school trampled. If he wanted to minimize damage, he'll have to end the fight quick, fast, and in a hurry.

Spikes popped out of the golem's palms, just as it had done before. Again? Apparently, the golem thought second time's the charm, but Danny begged to differ.

The golem shifted its arm and suddenly it was Danny's turn to reel back in surprise. The golem had averted its aim to the ground—to Louise. Who stood suddenly tense as she realized her agility was woefully unready to handle the barrage of rocks. The golem let loose its bolts and showered down onto Louise.

Danny bit back a curse and rocketed off at top speed. The wind rushed in his ears and the world seemed to warp around him as he travelled, breaking the sound barrier with a ring of air pressure forming around his waist. He landed between Louise and the barrage in a heartbeat before the bolts landed. Danny held out his arms and splayed his fingers apart, pouring energy outward and forming a glowing green shield just larger than he was. The bolts hit and tore through the ground around them like knife through paper and ripping the soil into the air. The bolts that clashed against Danny's barrier snapped and shatter from the force.

In the distraction, the golem swung its other arm and slammed into the side of the tower against the hole formed by Louise's previous spell. The wall sunk in and the whole building shook, leaving a rip wide enough to fit the giant's fist.

The barrage finally ceased. The ground around Louise and Danny was littered with spikes like uneven pillars in a sea of upturn dirt. A small circle where they stood was left untouched by the assault. Louise stared at their surrounding and pondered the power behind each and every bullet shot. Each strong enough to pierce solid stone and dent refined steel. And there were hundreds of bullets covering the ground. Hundreds that surely had hit Danny's shield. How truly strong was Danny's abilities, to protect them from such a devastating attack. Louise shivered at the thought.

"Fine. Let's end this." When Danny spoke it was low, not boisterous as it had been before. All pretense of nonchalant vanish in place of stony determination. Where previously it seemed as if he was playing around with the golem, now he was fully serious and—a chill ran up Louise's back—completely deadly.

Danny gather energy in his right hand until the familiar neon green ectoenergy formed in a swirling blob like levitating water. Louise's eyes drew to the glowing energy and widen. She nearly forgotten when he had used his shield, Danny was using magic. Actual magic the likes Louise had never seen before.

Before the golem could return its attention away from the building, Danny burst from the ground shooting straight for the golem's central body. The golem ripped its left arm free from the building, dislodging brick and stone, and swung it like a mighty hammer into Danny's approaching form.

The left arm of the golem exploded into a million pieces in a blink of an eye sending shards of rocks drizzling to the ground. Danny pushed forward and threw his open palm out at the golem's chest release his built up ectoenergy in a blinding spark of green. The ectoblast speared through the air in a jet of concentrated fire, brimming with sparkling electric energy and toxic power radiating from its form. The beam tore into the golem and eviscerated its inners, spewing out from the back of the golem and into the evening sky in a toxic geyser. The green energy caught the gleam of the sun and sparkled tantalizingly, catching the eyes of every living soul in the academy.

A breath of a moment passed, followed by a low groan of the golem's weight crushing into itself. Then, the golem crumbled, it's body breaking apart by the sheer energy exerted through its frame, the shockwave of which destroyed the integrity of not only the golem's physical structure, but also the ether patters laced through the clay. The large beast dissolved into the clay that formed its being, and slushed onto the ground in a huge clod.

From within the smoke of the falling clay, Danny landed gently onto the grass, staring intently at the mess of dirt and clay. Footsteps drew his attention to his rear, Louise walked up to him, her face showed unguarded awe at their surrounding. She stopped just steps in front of Danny, her eyes finally landed on the most awe-striking thing in the entire courtyard.

"Hey." Danny rubbed the back of his neck, his shyness suddenly returning to him now that his adrenaline drained away. Louise's lips thinned and a glare pinned at Danny. No doubt, she was unspeakably furious that Danny had kept this secret from his 'master'. "Listen—"

"You idiot!" Louise snapped, her hands balled into fists by her side. The academy students had begun to approach the messed up courtyard, just out of earshot. Danny raised both hands in surrender, a cheeky smile in place, but Louise didn't relent her anger. Of course, Danny knew he should probably have told Louise of his powers at some point if they were to be partners in magic school, but then again he didn't like sharing his secret. However, he did feel guilty knowing all of Louise's disappointment and embarrassment would be lessened if he had presented his powers at the very beginning. "Don't you know you could've been hurt?"

And, not to mention—Danny's train of thought came to abrupt crash.

"How can you be so reckless? Didn't you even think you could have been injured? Or worse, killed?" Louise continued her assault. Danny had half a mind to be angry himself, but he was more baffled than anything. Why did Louise even care about his wellbeing? Isn't his powers more important? Not to mention Louise was the one that tried to starve him.

"Hey, wait a minute! If I didn't stop that thing you—you… you could've been killed." Danny's shout ended in a mumble. His eyes averted from hers, the thought was strangely heavy on his mind.

"So?" Louise growled. Her shoulders were trembling and her eyes gleaming. She pressed one hand on Danny's chest and shoved him none too gently. "I don't care if I die! How can you just put yourself in danger like that?"

Danny stared at Louise and saw her shaking, furious, and thought he saw a different person. She was shaking, not the way she did when he accidentally annoyed her, rather it was the kind of shaking after Danny walked through the rain and freezing to his bones. The same trembling as when he watched his family nearly consumed in the infernal of the Nasty Burger boiler explosion.

Vulnerable.

"Louise," the word slipped pass Danny's lips before he even realized it. Louise bowed her head, her face covered by her pink bangs. Call it heroism, or call it personal, Danny felt a tug within his body, in every fiber of his being to move closer to Louise. A crushing pang of guilt and, more strangely, a rush of relief filled him. Perhaps it was because their relationship was not so black and white as master and familiar. "Don't say that. I should be saying that! I—… I don't want you to get hurt."

Louise froze, her shoulders was risen and rigid. She brought her arms up and rubbed her obscured face with the back of her sleeve, whipping from her hand all the way up her forearm. Finally, her head rose and her puffy eyes met Danny's glowing green ones. They stayed like that for a moment, unmoving as time washed over them completely unaware of the world that passed them by.

"Of course I don't want you to get hurt either, idiot!" Louise forced out a yell, but there was no heat behind her words. She crossed her hands over her chest and narrowed her eyes into a glare. "Promise me you won't do something stupid like that, again!"

Danny opened his mouth to retort, but stopped when his eyes slipped down to her hands covered under her black cloak balled up and trembling. He hissed out his breath and tried again. "Alright."

"I want you to say it," Louise was stubborn, but that's nothing new. What is new is the warm feeling Danny couldn't help suppress in his chest. It was surprising, and just a little bit of a relief, that she actually cared.

"I promise," Danny said begrudgingly. Then he decided to turn the tables on her. "But you have to swear, too. Otherwise I'll have no choice but to break my promise if another embodiment of death came after you."

Louise's body jumped at Danny's words. If Danny could barely admit to himself the conversation was heartwarming, Louise rejected the concept wholeheartedly. Her cheeks blushed red, but her eyes lit up in fiery embarrassment.

"I will not be treated like a child! It's my job as a master to make sure my familiar is unharmed!" Louise tried her best to mask that embarrassment as aimless rage, but Danny couldn't help smiling either way.

"I'm your familiar, and that means…well I don't know what that means," Danny didn't let his slip up deflate his intensity. "But, what I do know is that I am me, and I won't let you get hurt."

At first Louise looked like she was going to spit another insult out and they would pick up their routine arguments, but then she stopped in a way that reminded Danny of himself a few seconds before. He wondered absently if Louise noticed something in Danny as he had seen in her.

"Fine." Louise unclenched her fists and looked back down landing on the stylized D emblazoned on Danny's chest. She stared for a long time, drowned in the silence of the students' faded chatters. "I'm glad you're okay."

It was barely a whisper and Danny almost wasn't sure he heard it right. Either way, he grinned.

"Me too."

Danny decided it was best to get it over with, then in the center of thousands of prying eyes of students and academy staffs alike, a white ring expanded from Danny's waist. The luminescent ring surrounded his abdomen before separating into two rings; one gliding upwards and the other downwards. As the rings passed Danny's body, he transformed from his black hazmat into his regular hoodie and pants, his shocking white hair to a raven black, and his eyes from green to blue.

The crowd burst into a choir of surprised exclamations. All of their voice blended together like the sound of the sea, and their eyes prickled Danny's neck. But, he paid them no mind. The only person who had his attention was the girl standing in front of him and he smiled.

Louise took in his form once more and decided that his base form was not weaker or less charismatic than his powered form. Because, his smile fit perfectly in both. And she smiled back.

 **VII**

Danny felt both exhilarated one moment, then dead tired the next. It's been so long since he last went ghost, he almost forgotten the feeling of being a ghost. The wind rushing in his face, the thrill of the battle, the fear. And they all crashed into him all at once. It hasn't even been that long, but between the magics and the Louises Danny didn't even have the time. Two day too many, Danny thought.

After the golem had been vanquished the academy guard came rushing in with chosen few professors. Danny supposed in this world school teachers were actually useful outside of the classroom. The students had been evacuated before any more damage can be caused. Danny and Louise were both offered to visit the nurse, both refused.

The remainder of school activities had been suspended for the day in lieu of the giant monster break-in. Somehow or another, Danny found himself in Louise's room on his stack of hay ready to pass out. The lights were off and Louise was already in bed when she spoke.

"I was thinking," she began in a small voice. Danny lifted his head towards the voice. He heard shallow breaths as Louise thought over her words. "When I said earlier, about your promise. I asked you never to do anything dumb, even so you always get hurt. I don't understand you. I don't get why you always get yourself hurt," for me, she left unspoken. "Like yesterday. Why didn't you fight back in earnest when Guiche nearly killed you?"

Danny frown, knowing this question was coming eventually. Why didn't he use his ghost powers from the beginning? To be honest, when the fight started Danny hadn't given the idea much thought. Maybe, a set of incorporeal rules had somehow formed through years of fighting for his life.

"Because, I'm only one of three people I know who has this power." Danny said. His voice was distant as memories flooded him to the words he spoke. Louise's head popped up at the mention of others. "This power might as well be one of a kind. So, who am I to abuse it on people who have less power?" A pause. Images of a man flashed passed his mind's eye followed by a twist of pressure in his chest. "I've seen what this power can do to a person. It can easily be a sickness, not like the flu, more like a sickness of the mind. It corrupts—it erodes you down and drags everyone you love with you. If you use it for your own selfish reasons, it can destroy the world… I don't want to ever become like that—not again."

Silence followed. Louise held her breath, molding Danny's words in her mind. Slowly chewing on the information he had granted her, but it was hard to digest. It was personal, far more personal than anything they have shared with one another in their brief time together, and Louise was touched by his trust. She glanced up at Danny, now he was the one glaring at his boots.

"Danny." Louise spoke his name. Danny raised his head and saw Louise turned to him, her eyes gleamed in the light of the moon showing burning pink eyes full of passion. His eyes were soft blues, but the look of somber shame etched in them was unbefitting his proud features, she thought. "I understand. However, I cannot allow you to let yourself be hurt. You are my familiar. Your actions will reflect back on me. So, when someone hurts you, they are hurt me. From now on you're are fighting for me. Do you understand?"

For the second time today, Danny's mind came to tumbling halt. He stared unabashedly at Louise, his lips parted slightly in unadulterated surprise. Then, warmth emanated from the base of his stomach and rose to his chest. A smile formed on his lips, not a cocky smile, or an awkward one, but a true smile.

"Yeah, that sounds fine to me." Danny's laughed his words out. It felt like a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders and he could finally breath for the first time. His smile grew larger.

"Good." Louise couldn't help the twitch of her lips as she tried to keep composure. Danny's attitude was extremely contagious.

Louise flipped back into her bed to hide away her small smile and rosy cheeks. She stayed late into the night trying to level her breath and calm her hammering heart. It was a losing battle. The smile would not go away.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Thanks, everybody who's supporting this story! I'm genuinely surprised there's so many active readers in this fandom. Thanks again for giving me your concerns and thoughts. I'll do my best, so tell me what you think.**

 **This story starts at the end of Danny Phantom and the beginning of Familiar of Zero. So obviously Danny would be the wiser of the two main characters. He's already been through 50+ eps of ghost garbage. Naturally Danny would be the intelligent in this situation (which sounds like a paradox) and that means he would also be the more mature person.**

 **I imagine Danny in this story as a veteran politician who's already been through all the story clichés and weird wacky adventures so he's just going through the motions. He's not necessarily just going with the flow, but he understands the situation he is in and that means he can't piss off the hand that's feeding him (although technically Louise** _ **hasn't**_ **fed Danny in the story, yet). Despite what most people seem to want.**

 **Don't worry so much. I'll make sure Danny isn't too cowed. He's just cautious atm. Keep in mind that this is wise, post-canon, utra strong Danny and completely inexperienced Louise. I doubt there's more than a handful of people in the story who can actually be a threat to Danny. So there really is no reason to worry. I'm sure the only thing Danny's stressing about is having a place to stay and a way home.**

 **The reason Fouquet the Sculpter attacked so far in advance compared to the show is because in this story Danny does not develop the sign or powers of Gandálfr and thus Longueville never had reasons to delay her plan to observe the Gandálfr and assess his threat level. No one can ignore a Gandálfr. For the one or two Zero no Tsukaima experts, Danny not becoming a Gandálfr has a very specific reason that we'll visit someday.**

 **Danny doesn't keep his secret because he didn't really have a reason to do so in this world. Not to mention everyone seems to be on the same level of ability.**

 **Leave your thoughts on the story so far.**


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